Ten major European banks unite to create RL1 blockchain cooperative network
A consortium of ten European financial institutions has officially launched RL1, a cooperatively owned blockchain platform developed for tokenized assets and regulated financial markets.
A consortium of ten European financial institutions has officially brought to market Regulated Layer One (RL1), a cooperatively owned blockchain platform specifically engineered for tokenized assets and regulated financial markets.
The consortium made an announcement on Tuesday revealing that RL1 has been incorporated as a European Cooperative Society domiciled in Luxembourg and has commenced its operations with founding members that include ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures and Seturion.
According to RL1, every member institution will maintain equal decision-making authority regarding the network's governance framework and future development initiatives.
The permissioned, private network operates on infrastructure that was developed by SWIAT (Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer), a German financial technology company, which has subsequently transferred complete ownership of the network to the cooperative structure.
According to SWIAT, the platform has successfully processed more than 50 transactions with a combined value exceeding 700 million euros (approximately $808 million) throughout three years of live production deployment.
The blockchain infrastructure has been engineered to accommodate institutional applications including digital money solutions, tokenized bonds, collateral management and blockchain-based settlement mechanisms. According to RL1, the shared network infrastructure has the potential to minimize fragmentation that results from financial institutions maintaining separate distributed ledger systems.
Henning Vollbehr, who previously served as Managing Director at SWIAT, will assume leadership of RL1. Both KfW and L-Bank will maintain their support for the initiative, and RL1 has indicated that it is currently engaged in discussions with additional institutions, including NatWest, regarding potential membership in the network.